A fresh research finding based on the conference and meetings sector of the UK has revealed that in 2016, the highest numbers of face-to-face meetings were held here in the various meetings venues since the year 2008.
This has been witnessed despite the uncertainty triggered by Brexit.
The research, entitled, ‘UK Conference and Meeting Survey 2017’ (UKCAMS) estimates that this sector was worth about £19.4 billion in terms of venue and destination direct spending in the year 2016 marking a rise in sync with inflation as compared with the estimated value of £19.2 billion in 2015.
Currently the UK Conference and Meeting Survey is in its 24th year.
It has a specific focus on the volume of the market, its value and also the performance of meeting venues. It also focuses the key market trends that are identified by the venues. The results offer a definitive insight into the meetings and conference sector and are widely utilized to inform the marketing, advocacy and investment activities here.
According to the research findings, the overall number of conferences and meetings held in 2016 amounting to about 1.45 million had increased by 8% as compared with the figures of 2015 that had registered 1.34 million mark. But then, a slight rise in the average size of events also included a small reduction in the number of residential events.
This implies that the overall valuation of this sector continues to be constant thanks to the increase in the meetings activity.
Therefore, the meetings industry of the UK is now very competitive and the different venues are constantly looking for ways to remain as a tough challenge to their rivals.
The research findings also indicate that an average of about 419 meetings and conferences were undertaken in 2016 as compared with an average of 383 in 2015 and this has been the highest level in the last 10 years. Most of these corporate events were hosted inside hotels and even in multi-purpose venues.
In 2016, an estimated 97.5 million delegates accounted for about 151.2 million delegate days. The research was conducted by Tony Rogers of Tony Rogers Conference & Event Services and also Richard Smith of RJS Associates.
